1. Field of the Invention
The present invention is directed to an insulation displacement connector with a wire ejection feature.
2. Background of the Invention
An insulation displacement connector (IDC) typically has a wire channel for receiving an insulated wire. The wire channel typically has an insertion opening or port at one end, and is closed at the other end. A wire may thus be inserted in the opening, but will not extend or protrude out of the wire channel. Once the wire is inserted in the wire channel, a movable part of the IDC may be caused to move to bring the wire in contact with a terminal that cuts through the insulation of the wire and establishes a connection to the conductor of the wire. The insulation from the wire may break off or be separated from the conductor, and may become lodged in the wire channel. Before a new wire may be inserted in the wire channel, the loose insulation must be removed. One solution to that problem is to insert a thin probe into the wire channel to extract the loose insulation. However, the small size of the wire channel makes that task difficult because the probe cannot be easily maneuvered within the wire channel. It is also not practical to shake the IDC because it is usually mounted to or provided as part of some other structure.
It is thus desirable to provide an insulation displacement connector that overcomes the above-described shortcomings of the prior art.
The present invention is directed to an insulation displacement connector (IDC) having a body and a cap pivotably connected thereto. A wire channel is defined through the pivotable cap and has an insertion opening and an exit opening that provide separate ingress and egress openings for the wire channel. An insulated wire may be inserted into the wire channel via the insertion opening, and may exit the wire channel via the exit opening. Similarly, any insulation separated from the wire during use of the IDC is not trapped in the wire channel, but may easily be cleared therefrom via either the insertion or exit opening.
When a wire is placed in the wire channel, the pivotable cap may be caused to pivot into releasable locking engagement with the body. A terminal provided as part of the IDC cuts through the insulation and makes physical contact with the conductor of the wire. Any insulation that may separate from the wire may be removed from the wire channel via either of the insertion opening or exit opening.
The present invention also facilitates xe2x80x9cdaisy-chainingxe2x80x9d a plurality of connectors together. A single wire may be routed through the wire channel of a first IDC, and may exit via the exit opening of that wire channel and pass to a wire channel of a second IDC. In that manner, a plurality of IDCs may be connected together.
The IDC of the present invention may be provided as part of customer bridge, as part of an interconnection patch panel or terminal block, or in other devices, equipment, and structures, as is generally known in the art. It will be obvious to persons skilled in the art and from the disclosure provided herein that the present invention is not limited or otherwise defined by the application for which the IDC is used. Any application for which an IDC is suited may utilize the IDC of the present invention and benefit from its advantages.
Other objects and features of the present invention will become apparent from the following detailed description, considered in conjunction with the accompanying drawing figures. It is to be understood, however, that the drawings, which are not to scale, are designed solely for the purpose of illustration and not as a definition of the limits of the invention, for which reference should be made to the appended claims.